“Secretary Park…?”

“Director…”

After Park Se-hee composed herself, we went to find Director Choi Jae-man, who was detained underground. Director Choi seemed to have aged drastically in just a few days, with more wrinkles and a hunched back. He looked so disheveled from not washing that he resembled a homeless person. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man who once drove foreign cars and casually spent over 200,000 won on a single meal.

When Director Choi saw Park Se-hee, he stood up, delighted.

“Oh… Did you come to get me out?”

“No… Director, I…”

“Looks like you’ve fully adapted to detention life.”

“?!”

When Director Choi finally noticed me, he flinched and stepped back. Perhaps he still harbored fear after seeing my ‘Wrath.’

“W-what brings you here? Are you planning to… execute me?”

“No. I came to deliver news about your subordinates.”

“While you were here, I asked the employees for their opinions. They preferred staying here over wandering this world in danger. So… the Count has agreed to protect them until they adapt to this world.”

Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled with the decision to protect those who had joined Director Choi’s plan. I wanted to kick them out, but after talking to them, I realized they were just ordinary people who got caught up in this mess while trying to make money. If I kicked them out, they’d likely not survive. Plus, Park Se-hee begged me not to, so I reluctantly agreed to protect them.

“Then what about me…? Will you let me out too?”

“…Director Choi, are you only worried about yourself?”

“Of course! Why should I worry about others?”

“Sigh… Never mind. You wouldn’t understand even if I explained. Do you really want to leave here?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I do!”

Director Choi, who had shouted in excitement, shrank back when he met my cold gaze.

“L-look. I don’t ask for much. Just let me out of here. Okay? Don’t worry about me…”

“Director. What will you do if you leave here?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ll handle it…”

“Are you planning to ask the players for help?”

“Haha… What are you talking about all of a sudden…”

“Don’t play dumb. The service is about to open. You’re planning to ask the incoming players for help, aren’t you?”

“……”

Director Choi’s expression hardened. It seemed Park Se-hee had hit the mark.

At first, I thought Director Choi might know a way to escape from here. When he realized he couldn’t rely on my help, he asked to be let out of the mansion, which made me somewhat confident. But after talking to Park Se-hee, I understood what he was thinking.

Park Se-hee shook her head.

“Give it up. They won’t side with you.”

“…Nonsense. With enough money, I can win them over. Do you know how much money I have?”

“Director, you’re trapped here without a penny.”

“That’s why I’ll ask the players. If I tell them who I am and promise them a good reward for helping me…”

“No. They’ll think you’re an NPC.”

“What…? How do I look like an NPC? I’m a living person! This is another dimension, not a game!”

“True. You’re not an NPC, but a real living person. But… they don’t know that.”

That’s why players could kill people from this world without guilt.

“To them, this world is just a game.”

Park Se-hee, who had learned about this world’s future through me, spoke. Director Choi’s face turned pale. Not long ago, he had treated people from this world as NPCs despite knowing they were alive. He probably never imagined he’d be in the same position.

“No matter how much you or I insist we’re living people, the players will think we’re crazy NPCs. And if they don’t like us, they might just kill us.”

“Th-that’s ridiculous! NPCs are emotionless programs! We’re people with emotions! What kind of game treats real humans as NPCs?”

“Isn’t that what you and Chairman Park were doing? Trying to create programs more human than humans?”

“Hey! Don’t lump me in with Chairman Park! I didn’t…”

“The Remina Project.”

It wasn’t Park Se-hee who cut off Director Choi’s words.

“Count…?”

“To the public, it was known as an AI program more human than humans… but the Remina Project was actually about trapping the consciousness of comatose patients in machines and passing them off as AI.”

The AI idol, Remina. The hologram that was recreated like a real-life idol was actually a living human. I knew the ugly truth that Chairman Park Joon-hyuk had hidden. And I also knew about Director Choi’s past involvement in that atrocity.

“How do you know that…? No…”

Shocked for a moment, Director Choi looked at Park Se-hee in disbelief.

“Huh… So that’s how it is. Secretary Park. Did you investigate all that and tell the Count? Unbelievable. Dragging in an outsider to increase your allies? Huh?”

“Outsider? This person is…”

“You ungrateful wench! I took you in because you were pretty, and this is how you repay me?”

“No. What are you talking about? You hired me because of my experience as a game tester…”

“Shut up! You treacherous snake!”

Director Choi, who had openly shown hostility toward Park Se-hee, turned to me.

“Look. Count. I don’t know what that woman told you, but I’m not a bad person. That project was purely for money. You understand, right? Huh? I didn’t sell out friends or family. I just made money off some comatose patients I didn’t even know.”

The Stella Corporation, which gained attention through the Remina Project, received massive investments from everywhere. That money eventually funded the invention of the machine that created this world, the Milky Way, but some of it ended up in Director Choi’s hands. Park Se-hee had uncovered this while working as his secretary.

“O-of course, I feel some guilt. But it was all for money. Please, let bygones be bygones.”

“Director Choi… no, Mr. Choi Jae-man… You’re really…”

Park Se-hee glared at Director Choi in disgust. But Director Choi remained defiant.

“Count. That woman next to you is a sly fox. She’s under you now, but she might stab you in the back when she gets the chance.”

“Me? Ha!”

“Once a traitor, always a traitor. Huh? Ah, right. Let me propose something. Ditch that sly woman and join forces with me. I’ll promise you everything. I can make you more money than she ever could.”

“Unbelievable… Stop talking nonsense. Do you think the players will listen to you?”

“Well, they’re more likely to listen to me than you. Just wait and see. I’ll find at least one player willing to help.”

“Right. There were players who pitied ‘us.'”

“…Count…?”

“But they weren’t enough. They were hopelessly inadequate against the players’ madness.”

No matter what we did, it was futile. Appeals and pleas meant nothing to the players. They burned everything and ravaged this world. That was something I had confirmed through 526 regressions, each filled with regret. Director Choi, unaware of this past, looked puzzled. An ordinary human wouldn’t even consider the possibility of regression.

“You haven’t even tried yet. How can you be so sure?”

“Aren’t you the one trusting the players too easily?”

“They’re from the same world as me. I can persuade them. Ah… Is it because of what that woman told you that you don’t trust me? Don’t worry. As I said, the Remina Project was…”

“Enough.”

I cut him off with a calm voice.

“There’s no need to sugarcoat what you did. Through the Remina Project, you and Chairman Park learned how hard it is to create a program more human than humans. That’s why you realized, ‘It’s easier to present a new dimension as a game than to create a game more realistic than reality.’ Of course, it’s a ridiculous idea. But Chairman Park made it happen. Through Jeong So-ra’s imagination.”

Director Choi’s pupils dilated. Even if he thought Park Se-hee had told me, the detailed story and the names of Chairman Park and So-ra coming from my mouth must have shocked him.

“H-how do you know all that…? Did Park Se-hee tell you?!”

“Let me tell you an interesting story. A year ago, a man was working under Chairman Park Joon-hyuk.”

“…What?”

“He was possessed into this world by Chairman Park. As the cursed pig Count, Tristan Ruelberta.”

“That’s… wait…”

Director Choi’s legs gave out, and he slumped to the ground.

“N-no. That can’t be…”

“Thanks to that, he had to leave his only younger sister behind and be trapped in this world for a year.”

“Impossible… No way… You’re…!”

Realizing why I knew Park Se-hee and why I knew so much, Director Choi uttered the man’s name in a dazed voice.

“Jeong Ji-hwan…!”